Somebody had to light a sparkler of success between these struggling Mountain West Conference teams, and on this night, Fear the Spear, baby.

How the Aztecs did it was unusual, as they unleashed quarterback's Ryan Katz's legs (three touchdown runs) as much as his arm (two scoring heaves).

But then again, the squads' shortcomings coming in seemed as odd as a $3 gallon of gas.

Hawaii, led by coach and offensive wonk Norm Chow, had been dreadful moving the football.

SDSU, led by coach and defensive guru Rocky Long, had been challenged stopping anyone with the ball and a pulse.

The Aztecs' pass defense had been so shoddy ---- Fresno State's Derek Carr threw for 536 yards and five touchdowns last week ---- that quarterbacks of all ilks were itching to take snaps.

Former SDSU signal-callers were spotted in every direction Saturday, and would they really show up to show off against their alma mater's struggling secondary? Nope, but you can bet that Don Horn, Ryan Lindley and Kevin O'Connell ---- all in attendance ---- were tempted.

Luckily for SDSU, Hawaii's passing game is somewhere over the rainbow. When it fell behind 21-0 in the second quarter, it wasn't time to grab some champagne and cue Don Ho's "Tiny Bubbles," but it was close.

What little offensive love the Warriors do find is on the ground. And in facing such an early deficit, their running game was all but sent packing to the islands early.

But
ciao
to Chow's woes. The Aztecs have enough on their plate, and what they've consumed lately (allowing an average of 44 points in their last three games) wasn't going down so good.

The Aztecs have been hugging the turf, and they looked to their rushers to build that first-half edge. But if your Ouija board showed Katz running for three scores, how about some help with my lottery numbers?

Katz wasn't spotted kneeling on the sideline, but he channeled Tim Tebow ---- rumbling 27 yards up the middle for his first touchdown, going 34 yards around the right end on a bootleg for another, scrambling 9 yards for No. 3.

He stopped his Ronnie Hillman tribute long enough to toss a 36-yard scoring pass to Brice Butler.

Mix in a run by a real runner ---- Adam Muema ---- and the Aztecs were sitting pretty, and on 21 second-quarter points.

Waiting for the Aztecs, ahead 35-7, to go bust? Remember, Hawaii gets shut down more than debate moderator Jim Lehrer.

Throw out its 54 points in a win over Lamar ---- their players, we guess, had uniforms and everything ---- and Hawaii had 34 in three games.

The Warriors did open the second half by capping a 78-yard drive with a touchdown. But Hawaii kept being Hawaii, which meant being laid back in securing the football.

So while Hawaii was being sloppy, Aztecs fans were getting silly. This turned into a Mission Valley-style luau, with SDSU putting an apple in Hawaii's defense, and turning it ever so often in this roasting.

The Aztecs' 52 points were their most since they plucked Portland State in 2007. The 14 points allowed were the fewest since Army managed only seven in the season's second week.

The Aztecs' wobbly defense didn't march in Saturday. Or Hawaii was so bad that it wouldn't have mattered.

What did matter was Rocky's players getting a win. And, of course, thousands of extra SDSU fans seeing the rockets' red glare.